The Game

Arsenal tomorrow welcome West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates hoping not to make last season’s same mistake.

I’m sure many still remember the embarrassing display at the Emirates from last season and why not, Manuel Almunia’s crazy run when we could only manage a draw against the Baggies in March away from home so as Robin said before the game, we simply cannot afford to switch off this time as we desperately need to get all three points.

Speaking of the Dutchman, I’m a little worried as we move on to the busy Christmas period and that’s because I’m very confused on Ju Young Park and how good he actually is.

Arsene Wenger is saying that he needs months to properly settle down at Arsenal but doesn’t this automatically classify him as a “bad signing”?

This summer we loaned out two strikers, Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela, and whether you like them or not these are two players who have been at the Club for ages, two players who were supposed to enjoy what Italians call the quality leap, this year. Instead, they were loaned out to be replaced by a 26-year old who first of all needs time to settle down and two, apparently, will soon be gone because of military service.

Many are asking what, if Robin van Persie suffers an injury or needs a long rest? Our captain may as well be enjoying the best form of his life but he’s human after all and the Christmas period will soon be upon us.

He’s no Chamakh of course but we all saw what happened to Marouane, last year, after the busy Christmas schedule and with the Moroccan still a shadow of himself and Park needing “months”, who will replace the Dutchman when the Moroccan will be gone for the African Nations Cup?

The way the South Korean performed in the Champions League against Olympique Marseille was terrible and the chances he missed in front of goal had nothing to do with the time needed as his first time and his reactivity were very, very poor.

Hopefully I’m just overreacting but you all know me, I am a big fan of the “prevention is better than cure” statement and with Manchester City and Manchester United waiting in December and January I would prefer to know the answer before we actually get to play them.

As always, my favourite line-up is below. Remember you can submit your own at Arsenal Interactive and then share it on Twitter and Facebook.

Favourite line-up

But anyway, moving on to tomorrow’s game and I must confess that this is not an easy line-up to pick as I have question marks on almost all areas of the pitch to be honest.

I’m sure many will want to see Thomas and Laurent back together in central defence but I’m still concerned about the right flank as Carl Jenkinson again failed to impress against Marseille. He described his game as disappointing and even though we got away with it against the French side, sooner or later we will face a team who knows how to take full of advantage of the youngster’s inexperience.

A number of question marks also hang over the selection in midfield. After a fantastic game against Chelsea, Aaron Ramsey was again very slow against OM and Theo Walcott was no superstar either with the only Gervinho showing some consistency.

I was tempted to pick Andrey and shift Gervinho on the right but Theo needs time, and games, to show that the Chelsea game was not just a one-off. The Barclays Player of the Month for October will of course start up front.

Three points are vital, of course, as it would allow us to “relax” a little in the last two games of the Group Stage.

The Gunning Hawk Coverage

As always, tune in for team line-ups, streaming links, half time and full time reports, post-match thoughts, video highlights and what the press is writing. And of course, do contribute if you want to by making use of the comment box available at the bottom of the post as it’s always nice to hear your opinion. And as a final note, if you want to go one step further than just leaving a comment and want to have your articles published on our website, take a look here for more information.

Arsenal Interactive

And of course, don’t forget you’re still in time to pick your preferred team for this game. And when the final whistle blows, don’t forget to rate the players, comment on their performances and share your personal ratings with your friends. All this and more, available at http://www.arsenal-interactive.com.